I finally got to read this gorgeous book that I have been wanting to read for ages now. I adored the first book by Erin and I could not wait to read more by her. This book also looks so stunning. And I knew I would end up loving it. Which I did. And that makes me so very happy. It wasn't always perfect, but I liked it so much.
And so I'm giving this book four stars. Four very good stars. Will do my best to write down all my thoughts. But I fear they may be few, as this book has left me with no clear thoughts at all, ha. So I shall begin by saying that the writing was perfection. I had no problem with it, and no trouble connecting to all the characters.
Small Favors is told from the point of view of eighteen-year-old Ellerie. She lives in a very small town with her family. It's a place where everyone knows everyone. I am not sure what to call this book. It felt very much like a book set far in the past. But it had a lot of modern things too, more like the future, but set in a small town that acted like they were in the past most of the time. I very much liked this setting, though. A little confusing, but good. We get to know a whole lot about Ellerie. And I adored this girl the most. She could behave a bit weirdly, with how she changed how she felt about someone super fast during a few certain scenes. But oh, I adored her. Getting to know her was so good. I loved how she was brave and fierce. How she loved her family.
And oh, her family was pretty amazing. Her little sisters, Sadie and Merry. Eight and sixteen years old. Her twin brother, Sam. And their parents. I liked her mom a whole bunch. Her dad too. A little strict at times, but I adored him as well. I did not really like her twin brother at all. Oops. He did so, so many bad things in this story. I am not a forgiving person. So, yeah. Sadie was adorable, though. A little childish, a whole lot of cute. I loved Merry as well. Mostly I loved how they all loved each other. Great relationships.
I will not be saying too much about this book. It tells the story about Ellerie and her family. And their lives in this small town. We get to know an awful lot of people around them too. Maybe a bit too many people, as I had a bit of trouble keeping up with all of them. Sure, they were interesting at times, but I didn't really care about any of the people of the town, haha. There was so much drama with them at times too. A lot of fighting and violence happened as well. It was pretty great to read about, though, haha. It was interesting.
Ellerie and her family own a farm. With her dad being a beekeeper. And Ellerie is finally starting to learn a little more about the bees too, and I so loved how she was excited about that. Did not love how she was depressed about how being a girl in this town and world meant a lesser life at times. But Ellerie did more than what she was meant to do. And she had a pretty great life in this book, I think. This book tells the story about how things are going wrong in this town. And how something evil might be behind all of this.
Which is something that I really liked reading about. I truly liked reading more about the monsters in the woods. I liked when people who went into the woods ended up murdered, ha. But there was too little of all of this as well, I think. It took so very long before there was even a mention of the small favors that these creatures are asking for. Way more than half the book. I wish there had been more of everything. More scary, more creepy. But I also truly liked reading this book, because I loved Ellerie and her family. Yeah.
Oh. And I have not yet mentioned the boy. He just suddenly shows up close to their yard, and he starts appearing more often after that. I liked reading about him and Ellerie together. I loved how he flirted with her. And she with him, sometimes. He did not give her a name. So she gave him one. Whitaker. I liked it. And I loved him. He was a little off at times. A little weird. And then was also gone for such long moments. Rude. But the story with him and Ellerie was pretty great. Okay. I have shared too much. Yet not enough.
There is a big accident that happens kind of early in the book. A fire. And it makes it so their parents have to leave. Then they are gone for the rest of the book. How rude. But gosh, I think maybe reading about that accident may have been my favorite part of the book. Maybe. It was horrible and kind of evil at the same time. Yet so interesting to read about. There was another fire at the end of the book, with a whole lot of dead people, but I cared more for the first fire. Despite how they were both pretty awful. Loved it.
I did have a few small problems with this book, which is why this is a four star and not a five star. The pacing was a little off to me. There was so little happening for so very long. And then it happened again and again too. With huge time jumps with barely anything going on. I did understand why it was so, but it got to be a little boring at times. And I wouldn't have minded more action, more story, less jumps. I also wish it had been more scary, haha. It was creepy, but not truly scary. Still. I did like this book very much.
I will say that I am so happy that I read Small Favors. That it was a book that I adored. Not fully perfect, but so very good. And there were parts of it that I really loved. Oh. I wish there had been more about the bees. I mean, they are right there on that pretty cover. But so little in the book. How rude. I liked reading about them, though. And oh. The ending was rude. I am not pleased. Okay, it was good, for some. Also a little open. I wished to know more about a couple characters. But anyway. You need this book in your life.
